# What you can catch from a Toilet Seat **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 12, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-can-catch-from-a-toilet-seat/415328 "2007-08-12T07:11:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dfgarcia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@dfgarcia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dfgarcia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-can-catch-from-a-toilet-seat/415328/1 "2007-08-12T07:11:55Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtoilet.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtoilet.html) “Urine doesn’t carry any common diseases that I know of…” but from the CDC website regarding Cytomegalovirus (CMV): [http://www.cdc.gov/cmv/facts.htm](http://www.cdc.gov/cmv/facts.htm) “Between 50% and 80% of adults in the United States are infected with CMV by 40 years of age” and “Transmission of CMV occurs from person to person, through close contact with body fluids ( **urine** , saliva (spit), breast milk, blood, tears, semen, and vaginal fluids)” ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-can-catch-from-a-toilet-seat/415328/2 "2007-08-12T17:32:26Z")
[QUOTE=dfgarcia] [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtoilet.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtoilet.html) “Urine doesn’t carry any common diseases that I know of…” but from the CDC website regarding Cytomegalovirus (CMV): [http://www.cdc.gov/cmv/facts.htm](http://www.cdc.gov/cmv/facts.htm) “Between 50% and 80% of adults in the United States are infected with CMV by 40 years of age” and “Transmission of CMV occurs from person to person, through close contact with body fluids ( **urine** , saliva (spit), breast milk, blood, tears, semen, and vaginal fluids)” [/QUOTE] From the same page: “Most CMV infections are “silent,” meaning they cause no signs or symptoms in an infected person.” He said “common **diseases**.” ---
**Author:** ![dfgarcia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@dfgarcia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dfgarcia)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-can-catch-from-a-toilet-seat/415328/3 "2007-08-13T00:38:07Z")
[QUOTE=Nametag] From the same page: “Most CMV infections are “silent,” meaning they cause no signs or symptoms in an infected person.” He said “common **diseases**.” [/QUOTE] Isn’t HIV also a silent infection until one develops AIDS, the diesase? If one could get infected with HIV via a toilet seat, I don’t think the author would’ve made the same claim. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-can-catch-from-a-toilet-seat/415328/4 "2007-08-13T01:25:58Z")
. It’s a valid point, **dfgarcia** , but IMO a purely semantic one. Call it “illness,” rather than “disease,” and the statement stands. . ---
**Author:** ![dfgarcia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@dfgarcia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dfgarcia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-can-catch-from-a-toilet-seat/415328/5 "2007-08-14T08:25:14Z")
[QUOTE=andros] . It’s a valid point, **dfgarcia** , but IMO a purely semantic one. Call it “illness,” rather than “disease,” and the statement stands. . [/QUOTE] You both must be joking. I’ve been reading TSD for years and understand the nature of the smart-assed and literal tone of Cecil et al.'s responses, but I fail to see how this semantic dodge (i.e. piss doesn’t carry any common _diseases_, but we won’t mention anything about the common virus that might infect you) serves the public interest in fighting ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-can-catch-from-a-toilet-seat/415328/6 "2007-08-14T18:45:20Z")
. Fair enough. According to your CDC citation CMV is a virus which can _cause_ disease, rather than a disease itself, and is contracted through close, not casual, fluid contact (which as I understand it, does not include plain physical contact). But it’s obviously a much bigger deal to you than to me. I’m not convinced it’s indicative of a betrayal of the public interest or whatever, but you keep on fighting the good fight, I guess. . ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-can-catch-from-a-toilet-seat/415328/7 "2007-08-16T15:12:43Z")
Bollocks. CMV infection is extremely common, but it doesn’t cause any symptoms, ever, in most people. It ain’t a common disease. It ain’t a disease, period. Calling CMV infection a disease like calling the E. coli in your gut a disease. Unless one is especially vulnerable, one doesn’t get sick from it – and getting sick is my bright line test for “disease.”